In what appears to be a never-ending saga of survival for BlackBerry, the company has just signed a non-disclosure agreement with Lenovo, which could bring the PC maker its own mobile OS and smartphones.
BlackBerry recently announced that it was leaving the consumer market as sales of its BB10 smartphones, the Z10 and Q10, never materialized into the success the company needed to stay alive. Its earnings have tanked over the last several quarters, it announced a massive layoff, exited the consumer market, and entered an agreement to be purchased by one of its major investors, Fairfax Financial Holdings. This news must have made BlackBerry's co-founders nostalgic as they both revealed that they were considering a bid to purchase the company they used to run.
In BlackBerry's failure things started looking up for the company as word began to spread that some of its biggest rivals were interested in making a bid for the firm. It came to light that Google and Samsung were also interested in making a bid for the company, but the two tech giants were likely more interested in acquiring BlackBerry's patent portfolio than using its OS and smartphones. This could be the reason why BlackBerry and Lenovo will not comment on their talks.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that sources have told the publication that Lenovo has signed a non-disclosure agreement with BlackBerry that will give it access to BlackBerry's books. This isn't the first time Lenovo has said it would like to acquire the company. It made the same statement a few months ago when BlackBerry appeared to be climbing up the mountain of its comeback and was not interested in Lenovo's comments. It's a little ironic that the companies are now in talks for a possible acquisition.
The deal could have huge benefits for Lenovo. The PC maker has been aggressive and moving up its share of the PC market. Lenovo could soon inherit its own mobile OS, smartphones, and tablets like the company did with Palm's webOS.
Lenovo wants to dominate the PC world and it looks like it has its eyes set on addressing the smartphone and tablet markets if it acquires BlackBerry.
